PEOPLE WHO CHANGED JAPAN

• Circa 600 AD.  Shōtoku Taishi or Prince Shōtoku.   While much that is said about him is probably not true, what is true is that as regent, Shōtoku Taishi controlled the 33rd imperial court of Empress Suiko and implemented four very China oriented policies.  First, was the official recognition of Buddhism as a national religion in 594 AD with the "Flourishing Three Treasures Edict", second was the beginning diplomatic relations with the Sui Emperor of China.  Third, in the year 603 AD,  the imperial court adopted the same 12 level "merit based ranking system" use in China for classifying it's members.  And fourth, the adoption in 604 AD of a seventeen-article "constitution" which was a highly Buddhist document that focus on on the morals and virtues that were to be expected of government officials and the emperor's subjects to ensure a smooth running of the state.   For good reasons such as fostering national identity and pride, the rulers of Japan how downplayed the "China role" in the development of Japan and in fact distorted portions the history of this period to accomplish these ends. 
• Taira no Kiyomori - from 1156 till his death in 1183, Taira no Kiyomori was the most influential person in Japan.  First he help the reining emperor rid himself of his handlers, then he became the handler.  For most of that period, he ruled Japan as supreme military and administrative leader.  But for Kiyomori, the first Shogunate (the Minamoto) would likely not have been able to consolidate control over Japan.  History, written my the victors, history does not remember him very well, but for numerous reasons too complex to discuss in this limited area he is on this list.     Liking Kiyomori has not been all that popular.  For one, his family after he died lost the Gempei war.  Two, burned Nara and killed monks but the thousands way before Nobunaga made such practice commonplace.  Not perceives as a very likeable character but he was perhaps the most forward thinking of all the Japanese rulers - spending over a decade building artificial islands and port of Kobe show casing Kobe as the international trading port and finance center.  

• 1185.  Minamoto Yoritomo - the first Shogun.  Founder of the first of Japan's three great (and long lasting) military regimes.   Minamoto Yoritomo, with the essential help of his often hailed "brilliant" half-brother Minamoto Yoshitsune and his not so famous relative "Kiso [no Minimoto] no Yoshinaka, defeated the Taira (Imperial Forces) in a major civil war that continued for five years from 1180 to 1185.  In this lies the great tale of the death of the six-year-old Emperor Antoku at the hand of Minamoto Yoshitsune forces.  After the civil war, Minamoto Yoshitsune joined the joined the cloistered emperor and fought against his half brother Minamoto Yoritomo.  His efforts were unsuccessful and he ended his live in seppuku in 1189.  Yoshitsune is enshrined at a Shinto shrine in Fujisawa not far from where I use to live.  Because he was a brilliant strategist with an amazing list of high profile military achievements, and not afraid to fight for what he thought was right, he is one of my favorite Japanese war leaders.  AI am also extremely fond of the "unknown Minimoto" "kiso no Yoshinaka"  Had it not been for Yoshinaka - who captured Kyoto (very hard to do) - history would probably have been much different.  As for Minamoto Yoritomo, I see him more a pawn of his wife family in Kamakura who financed the Genji war. 

• Sengoku Jidai.  Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Ieyasu .  It is difficult to say whom was most important of these three.  Each one had a different management style that built on the progress made by their predecessor.  Everyone has their one favorite.  I am most fond of Hideyoshi but deeply respect them all. 

  • Oda Nobunaga.  1534-1582. "If a bird doesn't sing, kill it." - a haiku poem describing his style.   Nobunaga is arguably the most potent, the most fierce daimyo in the era.  He started as a daimyo of Owari province (very small and weak), and came very close to unify Japan before he was betrayed by one of his generals, Akechi Mitsuhide, and force to commit seppuku at Honjoji temple.  One one hand, he is described as a demonic figure with no mercy. It is said that Nobunaga technique for uniting the county was to kill all potential rivals and unite the rest.  He seldom accepted surrender. He completely destroyed Enryakuji temple in Mt. Hiei , one of the religious centers of Japanese Buddhists, and killed most everyone.  He also suppressed Jodo-shin-shu Buddhism by force.  On the other hand, Nobunaga is known as a very progressive leader.   He quickly recognized the potency of the mussel loaded riffles, developed new technology, logistic and battle technique instrumental in overcoming his enemy.  It is said that Nobunaga encouraged trade with European nations, and Nobunaga had a Christian name "Geronimo" and it sometime thought to have been a Christian.  I don't really believe this.   My take is that he allied with the Christian (mainly based in Kyushu) because his enemies there were difficult to control (and far away).  He wore European style plate armor in battles, rather than normal Japanese yoroi armor, and did I mention he had a big gun!  Yes, he did.  Nobunaga didn't want to be Shogun.  To him, the Shogun was still beholden to the emperor.  Instead, he wanted to kill the emperor, destroy the current dynasty, and rise the new emperor himself, sort of the way it was done in China.  We know that never happened.  Be do know that his reign of "serious power" lasted 14 years and he was able to "unify / control 20 of Japan's 66" province before he was was betrayed and died.  It is from this base that Toyotomi Hideyoshi (a Oda Nobunaga general) would be able to unify Japan.

  • Toyotomi Hideyoshi.  1536-1598.  "If a bird doesn't sing, make/teach it sing." - a haiku poem describing his style.    Hideyoshi was the successor of Nobunaga.  He finally unified Japan and bring the end of the Civil War Era.   He was born as a son of farmer, then became a follower of Nobunaga. After Nobunaga was slain by Mitshuhide,  Hideyoshi killed Mitshuhide, and become a major candidate for the successor of Nobunaga. Then he buried his rivals one by one, and he conquered all over Japan at last.  Though he couldn't become a shogun (only descendents of the Genji could get the title of shogun, and Hideyoshi was not), he managed to become the regent of the emperor.  Hideysohi was a a great general and built the massive Osaka Castle to consolidate his power.  He was also a great visionary administrator - started a census, land surveys, changed the social structure, regulated / confiscated weapon, change the taxation system, created the system of military service to the shogun.  He is know for unifying Japan and in the end a 6 year war in Korea starting in 1592.  He is said to be smart, sort of arrogant, not as harsh as Nobunaga.  See my story on the 1592 Korea Invasion for more insight into this man.. 

  • Ieyasu Tokugawa  1542-1616. "If a bird doesn't sing, wait for it to" - a haiku poem describing his style.   Ieyasu was the successor of Hideyoshi , and the founder of Edo Shogunate.  To westerner, he is most famous of the shoguns.  He was the daimyo of Mikawa, rather a weak province at the time.  He fought Nobunaga in the early days but eventually succumbed to his force and leadership.    When Nobunaga was slain by Mitsuhide at Honnouji temple, he decided not to struggle with Hideyoshi.  He didn't dispute about Hideyoshi 's claim for regency, and kept the position of No.2 in Japan.  When Hideyoshi died from old age in 1598, Ieyasu revealed his true form of a raptor.  He broke Ishida Mitsunari, the successor of Hidetoshi, at the battle of Sekigahara in 1600, to prove him the strongest in Japan.  He got the title of shogun in 1603, and established Edo Shogunate in Edo , the city known as Tokyo today. Today Ieyasu is known as a patient, persevering man with an excellent talent for management. 

• INSERT MEIJI OLIGARCHS

   

   

Colorful But Relatively Unimportant Personalities

Miyamoto Musashi   1584-1645. Arguably the most famous sword master in Japanese history.
Known as the writer of Gorin-no-sho (The book of Five Rings).  Legends say that he fought with his sword when he was 13 years old for the first time, and had never lost any duels for 17 years.  He fought Sasaki Kojiro at the Ganryu island in 1612, for his last fight.  There are many legends about the duel at the island. <insert a good version>  He became the guest of a major daimyo, Hosokawa Tadatoshi in 1640.  After then, he lived in Mt. Iwato, and wrote the famous book Gorin-no-sho . He died in 1645 after he finished the book.   Musashi is also known as a brilliant sculptor, calligrapher, and painter. There are some his works such as Buddhism statues and sumie .

Hattori Hanzo .  Hanzo is one of Ieyasu's trusted warlords, and the head of Iga ninja . He is the most famous ninja in the history. .  When Nobunaga was assasssinated by Mitsuhide in 1582, Ieyasu was at Kyoto with only a few guardsmen. That was the greatest danger in his life, because the death of Nobunaga would surely cause major civil disorders elsewhere. Hanzo collected precise information and made a plan to escape from Kyoto through Iga to Ieyasu's home castle in Mikawa . He also persuaded ninja in Iga county, and succeeded to made them follow Ieyasu .   After that, Hanzo commanded the Iga ninja army for espionage operations. Unfortunately, his operations were so stealthy that very few are known today. But Ieyasu highly trusted him. He died from illness in 1598, five years before his master became shogun .

"Abarembo Shogun"  Fictitious character involving the events of the 8th Tokugawa shougun.

"Mita Komo"  Fictitious character.